Ghost

The 1990 film Ghost is a great example of screenwriting for films.  This film holds many characteristics of classic screenwriting for the story and plot.  For this blog, I will only be cover three, symbolism, plot points, and motifs.

First I will cover symbolism.  Symbolism in films are extremely popular, and sometimes very noticeable for the casual movie fan.  However screenwriting’s and directors can also make them hidden and hard to find for the hardcore movie fan.  In Ghost one of the most notable forms of symbolism was the pottery wheel.  I found it interesting that this symbol actually meant two things .  The most obvious example, because of the music, and the way Sam was directing her hands up and down the clay would be a symbol for sex.  That was the obvious example.  However after watching the film, I soon realized that the way Sam guided her hands on the clay was a symbol for guiding Molly through life, even though Sam was a ghost.  I really enjoyed this example, and thought that it was incredibly creative.

Plot points were also a key components to Ghost.  The plot points could be the most important parts of screenwriting in films.  Plot points are the backbone of the film, because without a plot the film will suffer.  I identified three key plot points during the film.  The first would be Sam getting shot, and seeing himself die as a ghost.  This was the start of his adventure being a ghost.  At first he was scared, and shocked, but as the film progressed Sam discovered how he could use being a ghost to his advantage.  Second would be communicating with Oda Mae Brown.  This could arguably be the most important plot being in because without her he could not communicate with any other living human being.  Communicating with Oda made sure that Molly stayed safe, and also made sure Carl did not get the four million dollars.  Finally, I identified being able to interact with objects as a major plot point.  Up until this point, Sam could not interact with anything.  He would just pass right through it.  Once Sam learned this it gave him the advantage against all bad guys.

Finally, motifs in films are similar to symbols, however they’re different.  They do not have to be physical objects.  However for Ghost I found two motifs that really stood out to me.  The first motif that seemed to pop up multiple times during the film was the penny that was found at the beginning of the film.  It just so happened that where the penny was found, was also the apartment for Molly.  Also, near the end of the film, when Molly was in doubt that Sam was with her, he picked up the penny and put it in her hand.  This penny shows that from the beginning to the end Sam was with her, and never going to leave her.  Another motif would be glass.  Glass in Ghost represented in danger or fear.  We first see glass break when Sam is on the subway, and the other ghost breaks it down on the window.  Sam was in fear, because he did not think a ghost could break objects.  Next, when Sam locks Willie in the bathroom and turns on the sink and fogs up the mirror.  Sam then writes “boo” scaring Willie to the point where he just runs right out of the apartment.  Lastly, glass represented danger when the window came crashing down on Carl.  This motif is self explanatory.

Overall, I thought that Ghost was a pretty decent film.  However once I was looking for these screenwriting tools, I thought the film was a lot better.

 

Work Cited

Braveheart, and Saving Private Ryan

War is ugly.  There is not one way to get around that fact.  Fighting and war has been around since the beginning of time.  Through films, we can recreate famous battles, wars, and famous historical events.  This was the case in the films of “Braveheart”, and also “Saving Private Ryan”.  Although the time period of these two films are far from similar, there are ideological connections that can be seen between the two films.

“Braveheart”, the 1995 film takes place around the year of 1300.  The film’s protagonist, a Scottish knight named William Wallace fights for his right, and for his homeland during the Wars of Scottish independence.  The ideology that the film depicts is fighting for his homeland, and independence.  However, freedom comes at a cost of blood shed.  During the film the audience is shown brutal death by the Scottish.  All of this goes back to the ideology of pride and love the their home country.  The people would do anything for freedom.  Through triumph and motivation Wallace, would die for the love of his country.  Eventually the Scottish would push the English back and regain their independence, and ultimately regain their country.

“Saving Private Ryan” has a plot that as American’s we can relate to more.  Taking place during World War II, the audience knows that is toward the end of the war in 1945, because the film starts with the invasion of Omaha beach, or the D-Day invasion.  Within the first five minutes of the film, you see American soldiers get absolutely ripped apart by German machine guns.  As the viewer you see limbs blown off, human internals exposed, explosions, and most importantly, the will to never give up and keep pushing forward.  This powerful scene shows off will and the fight of the American soldiers to keep pushing toward up the beach, because they knew if they did not accomplish this mission, the Axis would win the war.  The amount of bloodshed the soldiers poured on that day was enough to turn the ocean a dark red.

I find it interesting that even though these two films take place in two completely different time periods, that they both share the same ideological messages.  Although, the films revolve around two completely different countries (Braveheart being Scotland, and Saving Private Ryan being the United States), from the ideology standpoint the films share the same meaning.  Each film shows the pride for their country.  Countless times the audience see’s brutal deaths and fight to never give up.  In “Braveheart” the Scottish fought for freedom, and the regain their country as their own, while in “Saving Private Ryan” the fight was the freedom of the world.  If the United States were unsuccessful during World War II, who knows what the world would look like today.  The same goes for “Braveheart”.  If William Wallace was not successful in leading a rebellion, Scotland might not be a country today.  The ideology in these films carry a powerful message of loving your homeland so much that you would die for it.